Enhancing Enforcement in the European Union: The European Order for Payment Procedure and its Implementation in the Member States, Particularly in Germany, the Netherlands and England

Abstract

Enforcement is one of the bottle-necks of civil procedure. Particularly in the last decade, in the EU efficient enforcement of civil judgments is the main priority within the civil justice area. This contribution focuses on the European Order for Payment Procedure as an instrument to enhance enforcement in the EU as well as on its implementation in several Member States. Attention is paid to the establishment of uniform procedures as a new trend in enhancing enforcement in the EU, the European Order for Payment Procedure, and the implementation in Germany, the Netherlands, and England. These three Member States have all enacted specific legislation, but in different ways and with different contents. The implementation in these three jurisdictions also had different implications, since in Germany a well-established national order for payment procedure with similar features already existed, whereas the Netherlands actually abolished its order for payment procedure at the beginning of the 1990s. England did not have a similar order for payment procedure, but, unlike in Germany and the Netherlands, the implementation raised scant debate. It is concluded that the EOP is an important step in the realisation of a more effective enforcement of judgments in the EU, though it does have its flaws. This is also reflected in the implementation rules of the Member States. Moreover, it may be doubted whether respect for fundamental principles of civil procedure, such as those imbedded in Article 6 ECHR, is guaranteed, whereas in the court of enforcement there are few possibilities of review. This does not necessarily affect enforcement, but it does jeopardise the quality of justice. As to the Member States – for example, with regard to the strict language requirements – most of them still need to adapt to the Europeanisation of civil procedure that has taken place only within the last couple of years. However, the attention being paid to civil procedure is promising, and considerable progress has been made at least at the legislative level.

Keywords: Civil Procedure, Enforcement, European Order for Payment

JEL Classification: K40, K41, K49